Zack MacEwen | #71 | RW

[Alflives]

11 minutes ago, stawns said:

I think he's got some meanness in him, but not the nearly the level of crazy.  When you have a guy like kass or Ferly on your team, it keeps the other team a little more honest because you have no idea how he's going to react to something.  You whack McD and you might just get a facewash, or he might lop your head off like he did with gagne.  Its a nice element to have in the lineup.

I’d love if Jake took crazy pills.  Can you imagine how he would influence the game if he was like a “Mad Dog Kelley” out there?  Jake’s good now, but if he added crazy, he’d be amazing.  Maybe someone could spike Jake's beer?  

[Kanukfanatic]

13 hours ago, canucklehead44 said:

What a great find by our scouting staff. I remember all the griping about wasting a contract spot on him because he looked destined to be in the AHL now he is a very intriguing prospect. He obviously has size and toughness but the skill level is there as well. Plus he can lineup at wing & centre. At worst I see him as a 13th forward who slots in where needed but I think he has second line potential in the mould of a Kassian or Ferland. 

Some real brilliant articles about Big Mac, like the one below (I just saw another poster already posted a link to this "article" above). This "article" makes jeremy davis look like a complete and utter idiot (same as jd burke). I highlighted some of the real gems in yellow if you just want to scan the long "article".

 

Canucks Throw Away Contract on CHL Free Agent Zack MacEwen

MARCH 4, 2017, 12:54 AM | JEREMY DAVIS

 

 

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they had signed CHL free agent Zack MacEwen to a three-year Entry Level Contract. MacEwen was reportedly a sought after free agent, according to a report in Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts article from a few weeks back.

Put bluntly, this a complete waste of a contract. Read on to find out why!

 

 

MacEwen has had a breakout year for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, scoring 27 goals and 62 points in 59 games. He plays on the top line, predominantly with Vitali Abramov, who is second in the QMJHL in scoring.

The problem is this: MacEwen is 20 years old, and he’s never scored like this before. The possibility that he’s benefiting from playing with an extremely talented linemate is overwhelmingly obvious.

J.D. Burke@JDylanBurke

 

 

Canucks 'Let's scout Gatineau' 'Wow, this Abramov kid is great!' 'Let's sign all his bad linemates and take Lockwood instead of him'

 

32

3:03 PM - Mar 3, 2017

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See J.D. Burke's other Tweets

 

 

 

 

The Canucks weren’t the only one interested in MacEwen, per Friedman’s report.

 

That fact that they got him may seem like a victory, but it probably shouldn’t. Ryan Biech delved into MacEwen’s numbers after the Friedman article, and found several red flags, including his sudden boost in production with talented linemates, a suspiciously high percentage of secondary assists, and a large percentage of power play goals. But there’s plenty more where that came from, and it doesn’t even touch on what I perceive to be the biggest and reddest flag of them all.

MacEwen has been noted as a “late bloomer”, which is really just code for “bad until he got so old that he could thrive on a top line with substantially better and younger players”. Sometimes these CHL free agents were overlooked because of some perceived flaw (often related, but not limited to, size). In those case, teams are able to pick up players that were passed over despite having promising numbers or other attributes, taking advantage of what we’d call a market inefficiency. Troy Stecher would be a great example of this – his numbers in Junior A and through his underclassmen years at college were draft worthy, but he was 5-foot-9.

 

 

Players like MacEwen are the exact opposite. They look like what traditional hockey minds expect players to look like. The reason that they don’t get drafted is not because of some sort of bias, but because they legitimately don’t deserve to be drafted.

When we’re projecting prospects, we always have to be wary of age – players develop an awful lot in the approximately four years they spend in junior hockey. Even when looking at older prospects, you can tell a lot about their futures when you look at how they performed in their 17-year old (draft year), or even 16-year old (draft-minus-one) seasons. Or, as the case may be, where they played.

A very prominent, yet easy to spot red flag for North American junior players is when they aren’t playing Major Junior by the their draft year. An exception might be that the player is trying to maintain NCAA eligibility – of course, if they end up playing in the CHL later on, that probably wasn’t the reason they weren’t in the CHL earlier.

 

MacEwen represents this type of player. In the first year that he was eligible for the NHL Entry Draft, MacEwen was suiting up for the Amherst Ramblers of the Maritime Hockey League (MJAHL). Worse, he recorded just 14 points in 50 games that year.

The following year he showed substantial improvement at that level, scoring 29 goals and 52 points in 46 games, earning some time in the QMJHL, where he produced two points in nine games. To reiterate, that’s two points in nine games in the QMJHL in his draft-plus-one season.

 

 

In 2015-16, he again made a large improvement, this time scoring 10 goals and 40 points in 66 games, then in his draft-plus-two season. Last offseason, MacEwen was traded to the Gatineau Olympiques, a substantially better team, and has again improved to 27 goals and 62 points in 59 games. He’s now an overager in his draft-plus-three season.

 

MacEwen has clearly shown improvement each year. That’s a good thing, but even with a good slope, the numbers look bad if the intercept is much lower than it should be. In other words, his year-to-year improvement doesn’t make up for the fact that his production is still about two years behind where we’d expect it to be from a player that has any chance to make the NHL.

As mentioned off the hop, this a complete waste of an NHL contract spot, of which teams are only able to hold 50 at once, making them a bit of a commodity. While we’ve argued ad nauseam that contract spots should be treated as such, the Canucks have seemed intent on throwing at last one away each year on junior players (not to even mention the contracts they waste on professional players).

This is the third straight spring that the Canucks have given a contract to a CHL player that simply didn’t deserve it – the first being their own draft pick, Mackenze Stewart, in 2015, and then free agent Yan-Pavel Laplante, also of the Gatineau Olympiques, in 2016.

This is the second year in a row that the #Canucks have signed Vitalii Abramov's linemate – who went the pick after they took Lockwood

— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) March 3, 2017

 

Stewart is now toiling in the ECHL with the Alaska Aces, with 10 points in 54 games, while Laplate is producing at a half-point per game for those same Aces, nearing his 22nd birthday.

The Canucks tried to force both on to the roster of the Utica Comets at various points, but Travis Green was having none of it. Stewart saw four games of action – with limited minutes – in 2015-16 before being dispatched to the ECHL. There he lasted six games before being sent back to junior, where he had to find a new team because his former one wasn’t interested in able to take him back.

Laplante played in 13 games for the Comets this season, interspersed with at least 12 healthy scratches (he missed approximately 11 more due to injury, but it is difficult to tell when he became healthy, since he couldn’t get back into the lineup). He had a single solitary assist in that time.

This is the future that I envision for Zack MacEwen. A few weeks of limited minutes and healthy scratches for Utica in 2017-18 before being dispatched to whichever ECHL affiliate is housing their cast offs. That’s fine enough for players on American League contracts, but it’s pretty embarrassing for a team to have that many NHL contracts in the ECHL, not because the talent level on the AHL team is too good, but because they can’t cut it at the next level.

ELC’s cannot be bought out. The team that signed them must suffer through them until they have run their course. I’d think less of the Canucks if they weren’t regretting the contract they gave to Mackenze Stewart two years ago (as nice of a boy as he seems to be).

The Canucks are at 46 out of their 50 available contract spots, assuming MacEwen slides and kicks in next season. That’s four spots available to sign NCAA free agents (with which they did very well last year getting Troy Stecher) as well as some of their own drafted players that may be ready to turn pro. They’re closer to the limit than they need to be for no good reason.

The Canucks seem intent on finding another Alex Burrows. The recently traded (but never forgotten) forward’s backstory is legendary in Canucks lore. Like MacEwen, Burrows didn’t become a full time CHL player until his draft-plus-two season, and it took him another season after that to get above a point-per-game in that league. (Ironically, Burrows; draft-plus-two season comes up as a match to MacEwen’s draft-plus-two season). Burrows had to try out for an ECHL team the following year to continue playing hockey.

We all know what happened after that. Burrows continued his ascent all the way to one of the NHL’s best first lines, potting more than 25 goals in four straight seasons. A remarkable tale that serves to tell us that great players can come from anywhere.

But a little reality is in order. For every Alex Burrows, there are hundreds more players that never play a single NHL game, or can’t even stick on an AHL roster. As much as I appreciate Burrows and love the journey he took to the NHL, it’s a player type that I’d bet against ten times out of ten, especially if it were my job on the line, doling out contracts.

Cohort models like the pGPS system should never be taken as gospel, but you can safely consider them as something more similar to betting odds, and these odds indicate that using a contract on MacEwen is a bad bet to make.

His limited successful matches each season make for distractingly high Expected Production scores, but the smart money knows to look at the bottom, where his Expected Success Percentage is flatlining.

Parting Comments

While this represents a pointless and disappointing use of resources, it’s still not enough to dampen the spirits of Canucks fans after the stellar trade deadline that Jim Benning had himself. In the end, the value added by the acquisitions of Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin is a hundred times greater than the value lost by throwing away a contract on a player like Zack MacEwen.

But it creates a confusing reality for Canucks fans. Which is the real Jim Benning? The GM who acquires skilled players that have great numbers relative to their league and age, or the GM who signs character players that work hard, but have underwhelmed statistically or taken advantage of favourable age circumstances. While this move may seem inconsequential, it follows from the same kind of thinking that leads to $10+ million contracts for the Luca Sbisa’s and Derek Dorsett’s of the world.

Of course it’s possible that every GM is capable of making both good and bad decisions. But for fans that thought that Jim Benning had turned a corner, we’re left wondering if Jim Benning was temporarily possessed at the deadline and has since returned to his previous ways.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Kanukfanatic

[Ray_Cathode]

8 hours ago, Horvat is a Boss said:

MacEwan is definitely on the path to proving me wrong as I thought he'd be a career AHLer (our Grenier replacement). He brings speed, physicality and most importantly that fire to the lineup. As Benning said, he should be a regular by next year.

 

I really hope that he can be groomed as our Beagle replacement. He needs to work on his defensive awareness and face offs to get to that point. 

He has played both RW and C in Utica, and did kill penalties for a while. It would serve him well to learn PK skills - there will definitely be a slot as the Eriksson, Sutter and Beagle contracts run out. He might end up being our Grabner redux.

[Ray_Cathode]

3 hours ago, Kanukfanatic said:

Some real brilliant articles about Big Mac, like the one below (I just saw another poster already posted a link to this "article" above). This "article" makes jeremy davis look like a complete and utter idiot (same as jd burke). I highlighted some of the real gems in yellow if you just want to scan the long "article".

 

Canucks Throw Away Contract on CHL Free Agent Zack MacEwen

MARCH 4, 2017, 12:54 AM | JEREMY DAVIS

 

 

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they had signed CHL free agent Zack MacEwen to a three-year Entry Level Contract. MacEwen was reportedly a sought after free agent, according to a report in Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts article from a few weeks back.

Put bluntly, this a complete waste of a contract. Read on to find out why!

 

 

MacEwen has had a breakout year for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, scoring 27 goals and 62 points in 59 games. He plays on the top line, predominantly with Vitali Abramov, who is second in the QMJHL in scoring.

The problem is this: MacEwen is 20 years old, and he’s never scored like this before. The possibility that he’s benefiting from playing with an extremely talented linemate is overwhelmingly obvious.

J.D. Burke@JDylanBurke

 

 

Canucks 'Let's scout Gatineau' 'Wow, this Abramov kid is great!' 'Let's sign all his bad linemates and take Lockwood instead of him'

 

32

3:03 PM - Mar 3, 2017

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

See J.D. Burke's other Tweets

 

 

 

 

The Canucks weren’t the only one interested in MacEwen, per Friedman’s report.

 

That fact that they got him may seem like a victory, but it probably shouldn’t. Ryan Biech delved into MacEwen’s numbers after the Friedman article, and found several red flags, including his sudden boost in production with talented linemates, a suspiciously high percentage of secondary assists, and a large percentage of power play goals. But there’s plenty more where that came from, and it doesn’t even touch on what I perceive to be the biggest and reddest flag of them all.

MacEwen has been noted as a “late bloomer”, which is really just code for “bad until he got so old that he could thrive on a top line with substantially better and younger players”. Sometimes these CHL free agents were overlooked because of some perceived flaw (often related, but not limited to, size). In those case, teams are able to pick up players that were passed over despite having promising numbers or other attributes, taking advantage of what we’d call a market inefficiency. Troy Stecher would be a great example of this – his numbers in Junior A and through his underclassmen years at college were draft worthy, but he was 5-foot-9.

 

 

Players like MacEwen are the exact opposite. They look like what traditional hockey minds expect players to look like. The reason that they don’t get drafted is not because of some sort of bias, but because they legitimately don’t deserve to be drafted.

When we’re projecting prospects, we always have to be wary of age – players develop an awful lot in the approximately four years they spend in junior hockey. Even when looking at older prospects, you can tell a lot about their futures when you look at how they performed in their 17-year old (draft year), or even 16-year old (draft-minus-one) seasons. Or, as the case may be, where they played.

A very prominent, yet easy to spot red flag for North American junior players is when they aren’t playing Major Junior by the their draft year. An exception might be that the player is trying to maintain NCAA eligibility – of course, if they end up playing in the CHL later on, that probably wasn’t the reason they weren’t in the CHL earlier.

 

MacEwen represents this type of player. In the first year that he was eligible for the NHL Entry Draft, MacEwen was suiting up for the Amherst Ramblers of the Maritime Hockey League (MJAHL). Worse, he recorded just 14 points in 50 games that year.

The following year he showed substantial improvement at that level, scoring 29 goals and 52 points in 46 games, earning some time in the QMJHL, where he produced two points in nine games. To reiterate, that’s two points in nine games in the QMJHL in his draft-plus-one season.

 

 

In 2015-16, he again made a large improvement, this time scoring 10 goals and 40 points in 66 games, then in his draft-plus-two season. Last offseason, MacEwen was traded to the Gatineau Olympiques, a substantially better team, and has again improved to 27 goals and 62 points in 59 games. He’s now an overager in his draft-plus-three season.

 

MacEwen has clearly shown improvement each year. That’s a good thing, but even with a good slope, the numbers look bad if the intercept is much lower than it should be. In other words, his year-to-year improvement doesn’t make up for the fact that his production is still about two years behind where we’d expect it to be from a player that has any chance to make the NHL.

As mentioned off the hop, this a complete waste of an NHL contract spot, of which teams are only able to hold 50 at once, making them a bit of a commodity. While we’ve argued ad nauseam that contract spots should be treated as such, the Canucks have seemed intent on throwing at last one away each year on junior players (not to even mention the contracts they waste on professional players).

This is the third straight spring that the Canucks have given a contract to a CHL player that simply didn’t deserve it – the first being their own draft pick, Mackenze Stewart, in 2015, and then free agent Yan-Pavel Laplante, also of the Gatineau Olympiques, in 2016.

This is the second year in a row that the #Canucks have signed Vitalii Abramov's linemate – who went the pick after they took Lockwood

— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) March 3, 2017

 

Stewart is now toiling in the ECHL with the Alaska Aces, with 10 points in 54 games, while Laplate is producing at a half-point per game for those same Aces, nearing his 22nd birthday.

The Canucks tried to force both on to the roster of the Utica Comets at various points, but Travis Green was having none of it. Stewart saw four games of action – with limited minutes – in 2015-16 before being dispatched to the ECHL. There he lasted six games before being sent back to junior, where he had to find a new team because his former one wasn’t interested in able to take him back.

Laplante played in 13 games for the Comets this season, interspersed with at least 12 healthy scratches (he missed approximately 11 more due to injury, but it is difficult to tell when he became healthy, since he couldn’t get back into the lineup). He had a single solitary assist in that time.

This is the future that I envision for Zack MacEwen. A few weeks of limited minutes and healthy scratches for Utica in 2017-18 before being dispatched to whichever ECHL affiliate is housing their cast offs. That’s fine enough for players on American League contracts, but it’s pretty embarrassing for a team to have that many NHL contracts in the ECHL, not because the talent level on the AHL team is too good, but because they can’t cut it at the next level.

ELC’s cannot be bought out. The team that signed them must suffer through them until they have run their course. I’d think less of the Canucks if they weren’t regretting the contract they gave to Mackenze Stewart two years ago (as nice of a boy as he seems to be).

The Canucks are at 46 out of their 50 available contract spots, assuming MacEwen slides and kicks in next season. That’s four spots available to sign NCAA free agents (with which they did very well last year getting Troy Stecher) as well as some of their own drafted players that may be ready to turn pro. They’re closer to the limit than they need to be for no good reason.

The Canucks seem intent on finding another Alex Burrows. The recently traded (but never forgotten) forward’s backstory is legendary in Canucks lore. Like MacEwen, Burrows didn’t become a full time CHL player until his draft-plus-two season, and it took him another season after that to get above a point-per-game in that league. (Ironically, Burrows; draft-plus-two season comes up as a match to MacEwen’s draft-plus-two season). Burrows had to try out for an ECHL team the following year to continue playing hockey.

We all know what happened after that. Burrows continued his ascent all the way to one of the NHL’s best first lines, potting more than 25 goals in four straight seasons. A remarkable tale that serves to tell us that great players can come from anywhere.

But a little reality is in order. For every Alex Burrows, there are hundreds more players that never play a single NHL game, or can’t even stick on an AHL roster. As much as I appreciate Burrows and love the journey he took to the NHL, it’s a player type that I’d bet against ten times out of ten, especially if it were my job on the line, doling out contracts.

Cohort models like the pGPS system should never be taken as gospel, but you can safely consider them as something more similar to betting odds, and these odds indicate that using a contract on MacEwen is a bad bet to make.

His limited successful matches each season make for distractingly high Expected Production scores, but the smart money knows to look at the bottom, where his Expected Success Percentage is flatlining.

Parting Comments

While this represents a pointless and disappointing use of resources, it’s still not enough to dampen the spirits of Canucks fans after the stellar trade deadline that Jim Benning had himself. In the end, the value added by the acquisitions of Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin is a hundred times greater than the value lost by throwing away a contract on a player like Zack MacEwen.

But it creates a confusing reality for Canucks fans. Which is the real Jim Benning? The GM who acquires skilled players that have great numbers relative to their league and age, or the GM who signs character players that work hard, but have underwhelmed statistically or taken advantage of favourable age circumstances. While this move may seem inconsequential, it follows from the same kind of thinking that leads to $10+ million contracts for the Luca Sbisa’s and Derek Dorsett’s of the world.

Of course it’s possible that every GM is capable of making both good and bad decisions. But for fans that thought that Jim Benning had turned a corner, we’re left wondering if Jim Benning was temporarily possessed at the deadline and has since returned to his previous ways.

I think MacEwen must have read this and answered with a resounding Ef you big mouth bone head. Gattaca! Gattaca!

 

 

[SilentSam]

On 3/25/2017 at 7:04 PM, SilentSam said:

Hard to put a ceiling on MacEwen.. with some kids, the lights go on a little later than everybody else's expectations, and they last longer and brighter than others.

I know this kid is stoked to have signed with Canucks,. Guaranteed his Summer is one where "sundown" just means its cooled down for his second cardio session of the day.

Looks like he might get to Utica to end this season,. If that's true, I'm looking forward to TGreen's opinions, and those of @stonecoldstevebernier.

This one is sure to shine at prospect camp, and depending on how we fair after the expansion draft, Zack might kick down the doors of opportunity if they're open a crack.

Love it when these boys are keen and realize their own potential,  it’s never really too hard to see what a player “potentially” brings..

But it’s up to a player, and his supporting franchise to see it through..  

hats off to Zack, Benning and the franchise down into Utica.. and of course the Utica Fan base.  

 

[SilentSam]

21 hours ago, stawns said:

I think he's got some meanness in him, but not the nearly the level of crazy.  When you have a guy like kass or Ferly on your team, it keeps the other team a little more honest because you have no idea how he's going to react to something.  You whack McD and you might just get a facewash, or he might lop your head off like he did with gagne.  Its a nice element to have in the lineup.

Perhaps some payback on Foligno tonight from Zack..   wait til the 3rd .

or knowing Torts he will “grandstand” the match early in the 1st to take the piss out of ZM.

[Googlie]

Shouldn't Mac be moved from the prospects category to the big club?

[-DLC-]

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-zack-macewen-big-fella-nhl/

 

Canucks’ Zack MacEwen: The Big Fella’s Journey to the NHL

 BY MATTHEW ZATOR MARCH 8TH, 2020

  

Zack MacEwen may have finally found a permanent spot in the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup after being shuttled back and forth from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. Just like Alex Burrows, Antoine Roussel, and Chris Tanev, he wasn’t drafted, so he had to work even harder to impress NHL scouts to take a chance on him.

Related: Vancouver Canucks News & Rumors: MacEwen, Toffoli & Pettersson

Now that he’s seemingly made the NHL as an effective bottom-six forward, and potentially even more, let’s take a look back at the journey that got him here.

 

MacEwen in the Maritime Junior Hockey League

Born and raised in Stratford, Prince Edward Island, MacEwen naturally began his hockey story in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL). Put on the map by superstar Sidney Crosby (you may have heard of him), they have not produced a lot of NHL players over the years. Apart from the aforementioned Crosby, only 29 have graduated to the biggest stage in hockey. However, they do have some good representation in Drake Batherson (OTT), Ryan Graves (COL) and Ross Johnston (NYI) currently skating with NHL teams.

If you look at the 30 NHL players that the MHL has produced over the years, a lot of them were hard-nosed, physical hockey players with an impressive work ethic. Most of them were also drafted in the later rounds or not at all, so they all had to have workmen like attitudes and a whole lot of patience to make it to the NHL. MacEwen was no different as he also went undrafted and paid his dues in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the American Hockey League (AHL) before ultimately making it to the NHL.

Zack MacEwen, Vancouver Canucks (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

MacEwen’s breakout season in the MHL came in his second go-around with the Amherst Ramblers where he collected 29 goals and 52 points in 46 games. He also was a frequent visitor to the sin bin with 103 penalty minutes. Many of those were of the fighting variety as he dropped the gloves almost nightly. That got him noticed by the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, where he signed a free-agent contract.

MacEwen’s Days in the QMJHL

 

Just like his first season in the MHL, MacEwen didn’t set the world on fire when he began his stint in the QMJHL. He only played nine games for the Wildcats collecting one goal and two points. Though, when the playoffs came around, he came alive with two goals and four points in nine games en route to a second-round exit.

That experience propelled MacEwen into his second season where he had 10 goals and 40 points in 66 games. He also continued his strong postseason play with four goals and eight points in 17 games. Despite this, he could not entice an NHL team to sign him to a free-agent contract after being passed over in the draft two years in a row.

 

That all changed after he was traded to the Gatineau Olympiques in the 2016 offseason. The disappointment of being overlooked yet again, this time at an NHL training camp with the Anaheim Ducks, seemed to have set a fire under MacEwen. He went on to have his best season in the QMJHL collecting 31 goals and 74 points in 66 games. His playoff dominance also continued with six goals in seven games.

Adam Forsythe

 

✔@adamforsythe

 

 

#Canucks have signed forward Zack MacEwen to a 3yr entry-level contract. The 20yr old has 62pts this season w/ Gatineau in #QMJHL

 

15

4:02 PM - Mar 3, 2017

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As you could imagine, that got NHL teams knocking on MacEwen’s door. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and of course the Canucks were all rumoured to be interested in the 6-foot-4 power forward. MacEwen, of course, ultimately decided to join the Canucks and continue his development in the AHL. General manager Jim Benning was ecstatic to get him too.

Zack is a physical two-way forward who plays in the tough areas and competes with a high intensity every night…He has good hands especially for a player of his size; combined with an ability to deliver hard checks and stick up for his teammates, Zack is a difficult player to match up against. We’re excited to have him join our organization.

The Big Fella Emerges with the Utica Comets

After signing his first NHL contract, MacEwen wasn’t going to just rest on his laurels. No, he continued to develop his game with an impressive rookie season with the Comets. He ended up finishing the campaign with 10 goals and 33 points in 66 games. He also won the Ian Anderson Award as the Comets’ Most Improved Rookie.

The man they call “The Big Fella” quickly became a fan favourite in Utica, and one of their best players night in and night out. His 42 points in 49 games even prompted a four-game call-up to the Canucks and the realization of a life-long dream. His debut was a memorable one too as he collected his first NHL point in a 7-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks. It may not have been a good game for the team, but it was definitely an exciting one for the MacEwen family.

Zack MacEwen, Utica Comets (Courtesy Utica Comets)

Getting rewarded with an assist late in the game is definitely a bit of a relief, especially for my family to see that, it’s a great feeling.

Canucks’ forward Zack MacEwen (from ‘What We Saw From the Vancouver Canucks: San Jose has their way’, Straight – 02/11/19)

After his short stint with the Canucks, he was returned to the Comets where he finished the season with 22 goals and 52 points in 69 games. That performance prompted me to include him as one of the top ten prospects on the team. That’s quite a development for a player that some saw as a waste of a contract.

MacEwen Becoming an Unlikely NHL Success Story

After his strong sophomore season as a member of the Comets, MacEwen once again started the 2019-20 season in Utica, much to the chagrin of Canucks’ fans. Many believed that he could be a good addition to the fourth line, despite the acquisition of Micheal Ferland in the offseason.

In traditional MacEwen fashion, he didn’t let his latest setback get him down. He used it as motivation and started another solid stint with the Comets with five goals and 11 points in 20 games. Those performances once again got him several call ups to the Canucks, especially when injuries struck Ferland, Jay Beagle, and Brandon Sutter. On one of those call ups, he finally got to experience the elation of scoring an NHL goal, on Alex Burrows’ night, no less.

With another unlikely NHL story in attendance, MacEwen showed everyone that he could potentially put together a similar one for himself. The next chapter continued in a recent game against the Colorado Avalanche where he started displaying the potential of becoming more than a fourth-line forward.

MacEwen’s Days In Utica Are Over

With the Canucks in the midst of a four-game losing streak and playing one of the best teams in the NHL in the Colorado Avalanche, MacEwen became the forward that everyone saw during the QMJHL playoffs. He was fast, he was physical and most of all, he was productive.

MacEwen only played 7:15 in that game but put together a stat line that included two goals, four hits and two penalty minutes. His second goal was a clutch one to boot, as it put the Canucks up by two with less than five minutes left in the game. He definitely made the most of his ice time, in one of the most important games of the season. If he can continue that play down the stretch and into the playoffs, the Canucks could have a secret weapon on their hands.

Related: Canucks’ Forward Depth Waiting in the Wings

MacEwen’s continued development in the NHL is encouraging for everyone in the organization. If Ferland cannot continue his career with the Canucks, he will become even more important to the team going forward. His combination of size and physicality, not to mention his passion and determination is something that is sorely needed in the bottom-six. The impact he and his linemates, Roussel and Adam Gaudette made in the game against the Avalanche could be the difference between a playoff spot and another trip to the golf course.

All in all, MacEwen is an amazing story that is not done yet, not by a long shot. He’s already become a fan favourite in two cities, unfortunately for Comets’ fans, he won’t be back there anytime soon.

MacEwen Proves Hard Work Can Make Dreams Come True

Fans and teammates alike are starting to see what Benning saw all those seasons ago when he signed him to his first contract. Goaltender Thatcher Demko, who has been with him for most of his professional career, summed up his journey in the most perfect way possible.

I’ve been with him every step of the way…He comes to the rink every day and (is) a good pro. I’m just really happy for him…He’s been in and out of the lineup all year, called up and sent down. For him to rise to the occasion tonight and get those two is huge. I think his game has come a long way. He’s a big strong kid. He goes out there and wears his heart on his sleeve. He’ll do anything for the team.

After Tyler Toffoli was acquired, Benning even went as far as saying that MacEwen was now a full-time NHL player. If he has more performances like the one against the Avalanche, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind about that. Consistency will, of course, be important, but he has the tools and attitude to succeed in this league. Even Benning’s bold statement did not change that fact.

Vancouver Canucks forward Zack MacEwen (Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports)

I saw the quote…It was definitely a vote of confidence for me to know that they feel that way about me. It’s just good to know my game is progressing to the NHL level. I just want to keep proving that though with each game, each chance I get to play.

Canucks’ forward Zack MacEwen

MacEwen has proven once again, that hard work and determination pay off. An NHL dream is never dead, even when the draft has passed you by. To sum it up, “The Big Fella” is here to stay and Canucks’ Nation couldn’t be happier.

[Father Ryan]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2020 at 1:27 PM, Horvat is a Boss said:

MacEwan is definitely on the path to proving me wrong as I thought he'd be a career AHLer (our Grenier replacement). He brings speed, physicality and most importantly that fire to the lineup. As Benning said, he should be a regular by next year.

 

I really hope that he can be groomed as our Beagle replacement. He needs to work on his defensive awareness and face offs to get to that point. 

If Grenier would have had half of Big Mac's drive and will, he would have been scary good. He had the talent, just no will to better himself once he left junior hockey

 

[J.I.A.H.N]

So, is Zack a pro-typical 3rd line center? Big, fast, aggressive, offensive, with Defensive capabilities

 

I am just wondering if he doesn't really fill in the role better than Adam Gaudette?

 

I think it is too early to say, but it begs the question

[Junkyard Dog]

2 hours ago, janisahockeynut said:

So, is Zack a pro-typical 3rd line center? Big, fast, aggressive, offensive, with Defensive capabilities

 

I am just wondering if he doesn't really fill in the role better than Adam Gaudette?

 

I think it is too early to say, but it begs the question

If that was the case he would have gotten looks at C and not on the wing.

 

Perhaps the organization thinks he makes a better winger than center.

[Rollieo Del Fuego]

9 hours ago, janisahockeynut said:

So, is Zack a pro-typical 3rd line center? Big, fast, aggressive, offensive, with Defensive capabilities

 

I am just wondering if he doesn't really fill in the role better than Adam Gaudette?

 

I think it is too early to say, but it begs the question

As a winger he can  use his speed and size to get in more hits on the opposing D. and if he fights we are not down a center for 5 or 7 minutes (instigating)....

 

I don't think he is that great at dishing the puck...his passes are fine if he has a bit of time to get them through but he is no EP or even BH...

[dpn1]

I think the one thing Zack could work on is his skating.  He is quick in straight ahead North/South speed but his lateral movement East/West needs work.  His skating style is a bit choppy.  If he could improve that part of his skating, I think he will be an even better middle 6 forward.  He should talk to Bo and get the name of his skating coach for training in the summer. 

[Ray_Cathode]

On 3/7/2020 at 11:35 AM, Alflives said:

IMO we need Big Mac playing in our top nine.  We need his presence with our offensive players.  

If we sign Toffoli and retain Virtanen and if Big Mac steps up it would leave us with a tremendous asset to move - the kind of asset that can bring back a really valuable piece - or Virtanen moves to the left side - which he preferred in junior  - and Podkolzin is just a year or so away and Hoglander right behind him. We could have a very interesting set of forwards.

[Fred65]

3 hours ago, Ray_Cathode said:

If we sign Toffoli and retain Virtanen and if Big Mac steps up it would leave us with a tremendous asset to move - the kind of asset that can bring back a really valuable piece - or Virtanen moves to the left side - which he preferred in junior  - and Podkolzin is just a year or so away and Hoglander right behind him. We could have a very interesting set of forwards.

Exactly, if Toffoli signs  it gives the team an extra top 6 forward. What you do with that extra asset is up for grabs, a draft pick a player you may be short of …. a top end D or a 1st round pick what ever, or if he leaves you're back to where you were minus a 2nd round pick.  Signing Toffoli you are at least getting a player you know and clearly fit in . WE need the buy out clause to be changed and the Cap to maybe remain the same. If we could buy out LE and or Beagle that would be the best. Sign Toffoli for a  3 year deal and hope you have a replacement at the culmination of that contract

[aGENT]

18 hours ago, Fred65 said:

Exactly, if Toffoli signs  it gives the team an extra top 6 forward. What you do with that extra asset is up for grabs, a draft pick a player you may be short of …. a top end D or a 1st round pick what ever, or if he leaves you're back to where you were minus a 2nd round pick.  Signing Toffoli you are at least getting a player you know and clearly fit in . WE need the buy out clause to be changed and the Cap to maybe remain the same. If we could buy out LE and or Beagle that would be the best. Sign Toffoli for a  3 year deal and hope you have a replacement at the culmination of that contract

We're not buying out Beagle. Buyouts are for dead/near dead cap or guys who are making 3+ times what they're worth, not capable NHL players who are slightly 'overpaid'.

 

And Toffoli is not signing a 3 year deal. Think 5-7.

[JM_]

5 minutes ago, aGENT said:

We're not buying out Beagle. Buyouts are for dead/near dead cap or guys who are making 3+ times what they're worth, not capable NHL players who are slightly 'overpaid'.

 

And Toffoli is not signing a 3 year deal. Think 5-7.

yes... and yes.

 

Is Beagle "overpaid"? dunno, he's still one of the best 4th line Cs so whats the pay scale really say? complaints around Beagle confuse me the most tbh. Now Sutter.... 

[aGENT]

9 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

yes... and yes.

 

Is Beagle "overpaid"? dunno, he's still one of the best 4th line Cs so whats the pay scale really say? complaints around Beagle confuse me the most tbh. Now Sutter.... 

Yeah I don't get the Beagle hate. At all. Guy's a top 5, 4C in the league. Would it be nice if he was making $500k +/- less? Sure. That enough of a cap burden to buy him out (particularly expiring in 2 short years)? Nope.

 

Sutter is in a not dissimilar boat. His biggest issue has been staying healthy. But he's expiring this coming year anyway and with retention, he's quite tradeable (particularly at the TDL). You quite simply don't buyout tradeable players.

Edited March 31, 2020 by aGENT

[Fred65]

11 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Yeah I don't get the Beagle hate. At all. Guy's a top 5, 4C in the league. Would it be nice if he was making $500k +/- less? Sure. That enough of a cap burden to buy him out (particularly expiring in 2 short years)? Nope.

 

Sutter is in a not dissimilar boat. His biggest issue has been staying healthy. But he's expiring this coming year anyway and with retention, he's quite tradeable (particularly at the TDL). You quite simply don't buyout tradeable players.

I don't think any one has hate for Beagle. although $3 mill for a 4th line centre does seem a little rich. Vcr problem is mostly about Cap Space and Beagle ( what ever you think of him ) is part of that problem. Here's the problem, should this season be over the calculation for next years salary cap definitely goes down, which is going to present problems for many teams and Vcr is one of them. So there is a rumour that the NHL may permit a one off buy out for players this summer. That for instance would mean Ericksson would come off the Cap should Vcr choose to pay him out, which might be in question considering the amount of money they have already lost due to shortened season and no play off revenue. However if the buy out comes into effect can Vcr avoid sorting out it's financial mess , suffering more of the same for years to come is not a great option. This summer is about book keeping rather than player signings 

[aGENT]

1 hour ago, Fred65 said:

I don't think any one has hate for Beagle. although $3 mill for a 4th line centre does seem a little rich. Vcr problem is mostly about Cap Space and Beagle ( what ever you think of him ) is part of that problem. Here's the problem, should this season be over the calculation for next years salary cap definitely goes down, which is going to present problems for many teams and Vcr is one of them. So there is a rumour that the NHL may permit a one off buy out for players this summer. That for instance would mean Ericksson would come off the Cap should Vcr choose to pay him out, which might be in question considering the amount of money they have already lost due to shortened season and no play off revenue. However if the buy out comes into effect can Vcr avoid sorting out it's financial mess , suffering more of the same for years to come is not a great option. This summer is about book keeping rather than player signings 

Well aware of current and potential cap implications. Beagle is FAR down the list of places to cut cap. Eriksson, Baer, Roussel, Benn etc... Sure (the latter two by trade).

 

You don't buy out useful and tradeable players.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by aGENT